Monday, August 24, 2009

Sick and tired of Crickets? In Beijing they are served on a stick! Hmmmm.... Never know, they could be quite tasty? Often considered a delicacy in some areas in the world, if of course prepared correctly.

Scientific name for the cricket is Acheta assimilis a member of the Orthopterans, along with the grasshopper and katydid as well. They have great hearing and vision. They have compound eyes which helps them see in many directions all at once.There are over a 1,000 different species of crickets! The Kaytid and the grasshopper make up the other 9,000 others but there are slightly more grasshoppers than Kaytid.
Crickets have been know in certain areas to bring you good luck or even fortune.
The song they sing or the annoying noise they make occasionally is rarely accomplished by the female of the species, the majority of the time it is the males making all that racket!
The reason why they make those noises is actually to call in mates, and to warn other males that they have entered the territory of another male as well.

An Amazing Fact That I Did Not Know?
The added benefit of their chirping to us, as the colder weather arrives, is listen to how many chirps they emit each minute. Dividing that amount by 4, and adding the number 40, you will arrive at the approximate Fahrenheit temperature outside!
Most crickets do not fly, though most of them have wings.
Burrowing in wood piles,beneath rocks, and other places with debris during the summer months.A cricket usually lives less than one year unless kept indoors and taken care of in hopes to get lucky or profitable.
As winter approaches, the female will look for the perfect spot to lay her eggs. This is generally on the ground. When spring arrives, the new cricket, or nymph, hatches looking very much like an adult cricket, only minus the wings. Through several molts, casting off their skin, they grow larger, and finally develop their wings.
So you think Crickets are vegetarians huh? Well you would be partially correct, usually if there is a dry spell they will eat peoples clothing and fabrics. They even have been known to eat smaller insects that live amongst ants on a regular basis.